Over the past few years, we’ve been hit with a wave of doomsday predictions. Some come from scientists warning about AI dangers, others from modern mystics or political analysts forecasting global conflict and the threat of World War 3.
And now, this latest revelation from NASA adds yet another troubling possibility to that growing list of concerns about Earth’s future.
To make matters worse, the Trump administration previously announced plans to slash funding for space research, including missions that help track how human activity affects the planet through greenhouse gases.
But what’s most concerning is the outcome of a newly released study. Backed in part by NASA’s Astrobiology program, the findings suggest that Earth’s oxygen-rich environment might not last nearly as long as we once assumed.
But here’s the twist: experts believe the planet could begin its irreversible descent into what they call a “great deoxygenation” way sooner. Some say this slow collapse might kick off in as little as 10,000 years.
“The lifespan of oxygen-rich atmospheres may be shorter than we previously thought.” explained Christopher Reinhard, who co-authored the study and is based at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
As the Sun’s energy output continues to rise across millions of years, Earth’s surface temperature will spike. This causes carbon dioxide in the air to break down faster.
That’s a huge issue for life on Earth. Plants rely on carbon dioxide for photosynthesis. Once CO₂ levels start to drop significantly, plants begin to die out.
Humans, animals, and most complex organisms wouldn’t survive these changes. In fact, the only life forms expected to pull through would be anaerobic microbes — simple organisms that don’t rely on oxygen.
As oxygen vanishes, the ozone layer also disappears. Without it, harmful ultraviolet rays from the Sun would freely hit Earth’s surface, making the planet even more uninhabitable.
It may sound terrifying, but Earth actually went through something like this once before. Billions of years ago, long before the rise of animals or humans, our atmosphere was very similar until the Great Oxidation Event transformed it and made complex life possible.
Scientists estimate that the final collapse of Earth’s oxygen supply will take place about a billion years from now.
And while the decline may technically begin around 10,000 years from today, that still gives us time.
In human terms, it’s the equivalent of about 400 generations into the future.
